Morris tribune., 1887-03-16
PRIMITIVE PEOPLE.
THE WILD AND UNNAMED JEWELLERS
IN NORTH MOUNTAIN, VA.

Scenes at o kney Springs-Peculiar APP
Neutrality-suspicious. Good Time
The Original breakdown"
To the visitors here the appearance Of
these people was a revelation. That the
.mountaineer was not possessed of an ordt
nary education was no surprise to them,
but they were not prepared in this nine
tcenth century to gaze upon reproduc-
tion of primitive man. Saturday Is gen.
crafty set aside as a sort of holiday by
them. From within radius of twenty
miles they come with their families,
babies and ALL to the city, as Orkney is
termed, to have a time. Those who are
fortunate enough to have wagons drive
here, but fully seven Fights are not so
blessed and over mountain ana dell they
climb with their children so as to get to
Orkney.
Life in the mountains has developed
a Looping movement, just as life on ship
board gives to the sailor when on shore a
swaying motion. Men, women and child
rem have the same gait. The head is bent
forward and the arms hang down in
front. All are round-Shouidered and
hollow chested. Their faces are express
ionless and semi idiotic, their manner
awkward and ungainly, and their be-
havior marked by an utter absence of
common civility. They gas upon stran-
ger, or rather at his attire, with open
mouth and dilated eyes, evidently deem
ing him great curiosity, and are not in
the least dis concerted when discovered.
The women are little more shy, and evil
IDENTIFY the more ign GRANT of the sexes, If
that were possible. This may be due to
the fact that the males are oftener within
the pales of civilization. Some of them
chew tobacco like the men, while others
smoke pipes. So much for their personal
appearance and manner.
GARMENTS NOT FASHIONABLE.
AS to their garments, ii lid not require
a connoisseur to determine that they were
not designed by Paris ia modiste. The
males wore loose sacks of cheap goods
and pr ,s to match. Everything was
loose end flo" ing, implying q love of
comfort and plenty of room Nearly all
had on black elouch hats, with flat crowns
and broad blilns The male children
were atIired in jackets that hung about
them like SACKS, AMI immensely wide
brown jea':s PANTS, SHAPED something like
the ol,!-stl lie peg-toDS. 1t WAS the female
attention Such combination of colors
IS rarely seen. yellow and red FREEDOM
mate. "a. mater;uI, Us a rule, was cot
ton NJ -, a.! ;ac styi- vigorous plaid
A maj ! Tie crowd wore loud col
ors. ~. !, ;.e danes were attired in
Cow ~, lark s.utf and sunbonnets.
ArGu. IL r.r'l and shoulders the bodice
Ate .i.,;E = iut from the armpits down
they I1n..l Ike Mother Hubbards 1t
was grit,r remarked that few wore
corsetS T.; Il t shoes left a solid print
on the soft ground, and the head-gear of
the more youthful, which, like the rest of
the att.rl, suggested comfort, was fiat
and wide.
There were about 200 on the grounds last
Saturday, ana, had the weather been less
threatening, there would probably have
been many more. They came to have a
good time, and they had it. The music
first attracted their attention. They gath
cred about the little round house on the
lawn, and gaZed with wonder and admir-
alton at the brass instruments. Soon the
leader abandoned operate airs This
sort of music attracted but did not amuse
them. He started up the Virginia Reel
and almost instantly the features of the
listeners underwent a change. The old
familiar strain had wonderful effect.
After a while some of them became IN
easy. and before the tune died out, two
OF the mountaineers suddenly made
break for the board walk and began to
dance. 1t was the old break down, rem
dered In a manner that would have ex-
cited the envy of song ambulance man.
He was the original, of which the guests
had heretofore only seen the imitation.
MAE-EATER AND PARTNER.
The dancers were odd characters, one
IN particular being known throughout
Szds section as John Huckleberry, "the
imam eater" He is said to be the strong
ea man in the mountains, being a match
fur any six men. The mountaineers re-
Gect his proves, and look upon him as
leader. The giant is about six feet
two inches in hight, and is of herculean
build. The man-eater's partner in the
dance was a lame man with basket on
his arm. His physical imperfection did
not interfere with his movements. After
time, when the music ceased, some of
the me n withdrew to the further end of
the lawn, where a ring was formed. One
of the youths pulled out a mouth har-
monica, and, as the wild strains swung
to the breeze, four mountain boys started
W CAO CCAICA OCSSdn d
of dance. In this way the picnickers
enjoyed themselves throughout the day.
Just about shutdown the musicians gave
the usual concert ON the lawn After
playing number of airs they decided to
give the mountaineers another benefit.
This time they selected "Sallie in the
Garden" the well-known "Buzzard" air.
The women thought the men had danced
enough, so they prevailed upon two of
their number to start the ball. A tall,
slim woman in black, about As years of
age, with shaker bonnet, and a girl of
IS responded, There was no winging, as
is seen a. tough balls in, your city, but
the side steps and shuffies were immense.
They tossed themselves all over the
board, affocding infinite amusement to
the spectators. For five minutes they
danced together, then the young girl
gave out. The old woman, however, kept
it up until the musicians were tired out.
It was All endurance match, and the aged
dancer carried off the prize. When COM
plimented on her performance she re-
marked, with proud toss of her head:
70, I'm q Woodworking woman, am"
and she looked it. Late at night the
picnickers started for home, which many
did not reach until the following morn
tng.-Cor. Baltimore American.
Fencing in the Lions.
While circus was parading in Kings
t0n Cnn rpcpotIy WAGON containing q